Carrier vessel



July 6 1926. y 1,591,273

vG. M. BRUSH GARRI ER VES SEL Filed Jan. 28, 1925 |NvEN`ToR- BYlian-w C ATTORNEYS Patented' July s, 1926.l

' Gumia iafnnusrr, or'nnniwicn, -comcrroun -cnnmmar Vassar..

maxaman med-January 2s,- 1szs. serial massi.

My invention relatesto the trans ortation art, and particularly 'to the prb ems sur-v roundin marine shipping-and has for lits object t e facilitation ofthe vloading andl ,unloading of vessels, convenience in stowage of cargo, and the better preservation of the cargo to becarried, by elimination of the customar rehandling in loading and stowage in tliie vessels. and lunloading at 'the terminal. 't

Another object'is to provide a vessel together with one or more cradles (a term I emplo7 to designate meansl for supporting a car'by its running'gear, such, for example, as a movable section of railroad track), to be used in transferring rolling stock, including freight cars, to and from the vessel by means ofa crane, ,hoisting device or the like. These cradles are constructed to mate properly t withthe permanent construction of the ves- Isel and may be parts of the Vessel and may travel at all times therewith.

Another vobject is to provide such a vessel with'a construction adapted-to receive and deliver rollilg-stock from or to a wharf or an-` l other vess without connecting the rails of -thevessel with the rails lof the wharf or other vessel. This eliminates a special slip, adju ing ontoons, or other adjusting means now or ina use, in loading or discharging rolling stoc into or out of. a vessel whose relative position varies with that of a fixed;

- wharfat diferent stages of tide or water level, or for different drafts of the vessel.

Another object is to provide-such a vessel with a construction adapted to receive and deliver rollingstock, includ-ing frei ht cars, on or-from .any one or more of its decks, or

in and from the hold, 'thereby permitting' rolling stock to be transported on any one l or more of its decks or in itsholdt Another object is to equip the vessel lwith facilitiesifor receiving or discharging rolling stock at a 'given point or given points, from or'to which the units are moved res ectively to or from proper relative positlon with other units on board, such facilities being Y so designed as to permit distribution of the weight of the units on board. i Y e Other ob'ects and advantages lof `my invention wil as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, land illustrated 'in the accompanying drawings, in which' l Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating o 'n be disclosed lin the specificationy form of my lnvention, showing a fragmen-f 'tar n portion 4offt-he carriervessel;A e

ig. 2 is aside view, showing a wharf and. a fragmentary portion of said carrier vessel; Fig. 3 isa cross section, taken` online 3-3 in Fig. 1 in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a ragrnerxtaryv detail view, inlv section, ofsaid carrier vessel, showing an opening wherein the cradle rests.v

Referring to the accompanying drawings, i

the reference numeral 10 1s used to indicate a carrier vvvessel, provided with ahold 11.1

Cars 14 are designed to travel on tracks 13,

AA .wharf 12` is .provided withjt'r'acks '13. .T

o and also on tracks 15, whereoncars 14 are received and moved todesired positions. As f shown, a number of-p'arallel tracks 15 are laid in the hold 11 ofthe vessel 10, and each 1 t such track 1'5 isV provided with an o ening 16 tol receive a removable section (w 'ch I designate a cradle) 17, which is used in the transfer of cars 14 between the wharf 12 and the lhold 11. The tracks 13 on the wharf 12 are also provided with openi'n l19 to receive the cradle 17 the construction of tracks 13 and 15 being such that when either thereof is resting 1n matedl position with "the l .i

cradle 17, such track and the track 18on the cradle 17 forms -a continuous trackway.'

Any desired means may be employed for an.-

choring the cradle 17 in mated position with either of Asaid tracks 13 and 15.

`As shown, a crane 20 is mounted on the .vessel 10, and provides the means for lifting, racking and lowering the cradle 17, in,

conveying cars 14 into, or out of, the vessel 10. The vessel 10 is provided with opening 1 21 through the Cradle 17 may pass inl, i

to'the'hold 11, and guides 22 to ositively direct the movement of the cra sired hoisting device, 'may be locatedon the wharf 12 or on another vessel, and will function' in like manner.`

A car 14 is nicvedv over track 13 on to tracks 18 on cradle 17', said tracks 13 and 18 being inmated position. The crane 20 then lifts the cradle 17 clear of the side of i'on of my device as illustratedv e 17 are t preferably used. The crane 20, or other dethehu'll of the vessel 10, racks ittowards and through the opening 21 in the vessel 10 and lowers itinto the hold 11, the cradle 17 fitting properly in to its opening '16, and the take another oar aboard,

cradle 17 as we In the form of my invention illustrated` each of tracks 15 in vessel 10 is provide with its individual cradle 17. The crane l20 then removes the cradle17 from a second track 15 and places itin the open section 19 of the Wharf track 13, and

the operations hereinbefore described are repeated untill cars to the desired number have been placed upon the second track 15 and upon all other such tracks.

Obviously, the discharging operation is vaccomplished in reverse manner.

A single cradle 17 may be used for transporting cars-to and from a plurality o f the tracks in the vessel to have a cradle for each of the separate tracks on each level in the vessel as means is thereby provided for loading the vessel With its full capacityV of cars, for t'heopenings 16 as well as all the tracks 15 are thereby available for car storage while the vessel is in transit. l

As shown, to facilitatel quick handling of cars 14 the guides 22 are used, each track being provided `with its individual registering guides. As thereare various designs of 1des which may be used with success I have not illustrated or described any particular construction, as the purpose of the guides is to correct any error of judgment of the crane-operator in positioning the cradle 17 in its proper place, and to vcontrol .any 17 w. ile it is being raised or lowered. Although guides are desirable, they are not essential to the successful operation' of my de,-

vlce. Suitable locking devices (not shown) may be provided to secure the rolling stockon the cradle 17 while loading or dlscharging, or while being transported in the vessel 10, and also'to securel therolling stock on the tracks 15 in the vessel 10 during transportation.

The cradle 17 may be so designedas to rest upon or to fit over the tracks of awharf or other vessel' which are not equipped with an open section to receive the cradle 17, .and wedge-shaped connectors (not shown) may be -emp1oyed to connect the rails 18 4of the cradle 17 with the rails on such wharf or other vessel, over which the rolling stock may be moved on to or oil' of the cradle 17 Similarly,

if desired, but I prefer' endulum motion of the hanging cradle the-cradle 17 lmay be made to connect with the tracks on any one 'or more` levels of the vessel 10 by means of such connections where desired. f

' While it is of the essence of my invention that the cradle be bodily movable out of the vessel 'so as to be clear thereof when sup porting the car inregistry with the wharf tracks orl tracks on another vessel, it is obvious that the transverse movement of the cradle to' clear the carrier vessel may be either lateral, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, or longitudinal, as to a wharf or slip at the bow or stern of the carrier vessel. i

an illustration of my invention, not as a limitation'thereof since '-it'is-appar'ent that Y many changes and m'odica'tions may be `made without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in' the yappended claims.-

Having thus described one form of my invention, what I claim and ldesire to secure by Letters Patent 'of the United States is:

1. A carrier vessel, rails laid to form a track therein, a cradle forsupporting a car by its running' gear to register with said track, an openingv in the vessel through which vthe said cradle may be moved and means to move said cradle bodily into and out-of the vessel.

2. The combination with a carrier vessel having a track laid therein, of a movable track section adapted to mate with such track and to transport a car thereori, tracks outside of 'said vessel, and means for bodily moving said track section clear of the vessaid track section at will with said outside such vessel.

3. The combination of'l a carrier vessel, rails laid thereon to form` tracks on a plurality 'of levels, a movable track section, an opening in Vsaid vessel for ythe transfer of said track section in and out of the vessel, and means for bodily moving said .track section vertically and transversely of the vessel and adapted to bring said .track section at will into registry with one or other of said tracks.

4.' The combination of a carrier vessel, rails laid'thereon to form tracks on a plurality of levels, a movable cradle adapted to support a ca-r by its running gear so as to register with one. or other o f said tracks,

and means to move said -`cradle bodily clear of said tracks. andtransversely of the vessel. l

5. The combination, with la carrier vessel having a hold'with tracks laid therein, yofa removable section in said tracks, there being openings in Vsaid vessel ,through which the removable section may pass, and means tov elevate and lower said removable section.

6. The combination, with a carrier vesselhaving a hold withitracks laid' therein,

of a removable section in said tracks, with means to elevate and lower said removable, section and position it so that the rails tracks.

-7.` A device for handling car o, comprising the combination, with a wiarf having rallroad tracks thereon, of a vessel, a plurality of tracks on said vessel ceach having a removable section, means to remove a section and lace it in register with the track .on the wiarf so that rollinw stock can' be moved on to said section, anda to return said section toits original positionv whereby said rolling stock may be moved on to the tracks v on the vessel,r

8. A device for handling car o, comprisin the combination, with, a w arf. having railroad tracks thereon, there being an openin in each of said tracks, of a vessel, a plura ity oftracks on said' vessel, each track having a removable section corresponding to said opening, means to remove a section and place it -in the openingvin the "track on thereon will register with' rails on Wharfl the wharf so that-'rolling stockcan be moved on to said section, and to returnv said section to its original position whereby said rolling stock'may bemoved onto the'f'tracks v on the vessel.

9. A device for handling cargo,

v comprislng the comblnatlon,

with a vessel, of a rail# into said vessel, the said section having rails thereon which mate longitudinally with tracks on the vessel when said section is placed in the same horizontal plane.

10. A device for handling cargo, comprising the combination, with a. wha/rf having 'road track having a section bodily ,movable railroad tracks thereon, of a vessel, a pluralityof tracks on said vessel, a cradle hav ing rails thereon which mate longitudinally with the tracks on theve'sssel orthe wharf when said cradle' is placed in the same horizontal plane, and meansv to move said cradle into juxtaposition with either the wharf tracks or the tracks on the vessel, as desired.

,i Gnarmr M. BRUSH. 

